There has already been a lot of talk about greenhouses in urban settings to address the demand for produce in a city environment. Just earlier this year supermarket chain Whole Foods announced its plans for a commercial-scale rooftop greenhouse.

For industrial designer Ben Greene, his approach is more utilitarian and scaled down. His idea is to combine the concept of a grocery store and a greenhouse into a new type of food retailer called The Farmery.

The Farmery is basically a greenhouse and store in one. Food is grown and sold in one site. Customers will be able to see for themselves how the food is grown and buying produce at The Farmery will be an immersive experience for the shoppers.

In typical groceries or supermarkets, the food is harvested and packaged from someplace and then shipped to the retail stores. The Farmery would cut down those extra steps. Having the farm and store in one place theoretically lowers inventory loss and saves on the cost of transportation and packaging.

The Farmery is built with low-cost shipping containers and modular greenhouse structures. The goal is to sell as much as what the farm grows in the retail area of the establishment. Whatever does not get sold at the retail area will be sold off to restaurants.

The team currently has two prototype growing units in North Carolina to test growing systems and test market the produce at restaurants, farmers markets and retailers. Once The Farmery is fully operational, the team hopes to make the urban farm as common as the local convenience store or corner store.